What is Magnit? Magnit Review

About Magnit

Magnit is an independent company in the Russian retail industry. Along with the sale of goods, the retail chain engages in the production of food products under its own brand. The company operates several vegetable, grocery and confectionery businesses; Magnit is also included in the Forbes Global 2000 list of the world's largest public companies and ranks high in Forbes' rating of Russia's largest private employers, with a total number of employees exceeding 300,000.

Development History

-1994-1998, household chemicals wholesale company "Tander" founded by Sergei Galitsky; actively developed a network of wholesale stores, entered the top ten distributors of cosmetics, household chemicals and perfumes in Russia; entered the grocery retail market in the form of cash and carry;

-1998-2001, the emergence of the "Magnit" brand (Low Tariffs Store) and the beginning of chain development under the new brand, the creation of its own automobile transport enterprise - "Celta" company, the launch of the first line of products under its own label, the transition of "Magnit" to the discount store model, the opening of the first 160 stores, which put Magnit in the leading position in Russia in terms of chain size;

- In 2002-2005, the first distribution center was opened in Kropotkin, Krasnodar Territory, and the entire network was restarted in the form of convenience stores, which is the key for Magnit now, and the chain is developing rapidly: at the end of 2005, there were 1500 retail outlets, "Magnit" closed the wholesale business of cosmetics and daily chemicals, and fully focused on the retail business;

-2006-2009, the company launched its new business format - compact urban hypermarkets - through an initial public offering (IPO) on the London Stock Exchange. Deloitte was named the fastest growing retail company in the world. The company also raised funds for network development through a secondary offering (SPO) on the London Stock Exchange. Magnit was the first retailer to switch to importing its most popular products.

- In 2010-2012, the first store in the form of a drogerie "Magnet Cosmetic" was opened, own production of vegetables and herbs was launched in the Krasnodar Territory - the greenhouse complex "Green Line", Magnet became the largest private employer in Russia and has maintained this position to this day, a new business format emerged - "Home Magnet";

- In 2013-2015, the largest retail company in terms of the number of stores, retail space, efficiency and sales volume, Magnit's market capitalization on the Moscow Exchange exceeded 1 trillion rubles, Magnit Cosmetic became the largest lingerie chain in Russia, in "Magnet" there was an opportunity to pay for purchases using bank cards, as well as the first self-service checkouts, the number of Magnit stores exceeded 10,000, construction of its own industrial park "Krasnodar" began.

- 2016 - 2018: launch of new formats "Magnit Pharmacy" and "Magnet Wholesale", opening of the first distribution center outside the Arctic Circle (Murmansk), opening of the 37th distribution center for the company, opening of its own mushroom cultivation plant in the Krasnodar Territory, VTB Group acquires 29.1% of Magnit shares, resignation of Sergey Galitsky, introduction of the development strategy until 2023, start of construction of the first resident of the Krasnodar Industrial Park - "Kuban Bakery Products Factory", Magnit Cosmetic becomes the largest player in the Russian cosmetics and perfume retail industry.

- In 2019, Jan Dunning was appointed President and CEO of the company, a new cross-format brand was presented for all Magnit stores, the 20,000th store "at home" and the 5,000th "Magnet Cosmetics" were opened, the second resident of the industrial park "Krasnodar" - "Kuban Confectioner" was launched, new formats were tested - Superstore, Magnit City, the launch of its own loyalty program "Magnet" for customers, the beginning of cooperation between "Magnit" and the Russian Football Federation and the Russian National Football Team, the launch of a new logistics strategy "Fresh Chain".

- In 2020, the rollout of the loyalty program was completed in all regions where the company is present, the largest fandom network in Russia was created in partnership with P&G, the #Magnit Zabota social program was launched and more than 350,000 food packages were delivered, Florian Jansen was appointed CEO of Magnit, large-scale digital transformation was accelerated, the sustainability strategy to 2025 was adopted, the corporate accelerator MGNTech was launched to find innovations, the first My Price discount store was opened, the development of e-commerce and e-pharmacy: six online delivery projects were launched - owned and in partnership, a new distribution center was opened in Novosibirsk and restored in Voronezh, the company joined the UN Global Compact, convenience stores were opened for large cities, the implementation phase of the transformation plan E began, the first themed supermarket was opened, the green office program was launched, the first retail store was opened in Ingushetia, MagnitPay was launched, and a unified system based on Relex Solutions for forecasting demand for goods and planning inventory was implemented.